History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume I Part 7

[55] Treatise of Antichrist, of the same age as the n.o.bla Leycon.

Still, however, this primary truth of a sinner's justification, this capital doctrine, which ought to have risen from the midst of their doctrines, like Mont Blanc from the bosom of the Alps, has not due prominence in their system. Its top is not high enough.

In 1170, Peter Vaud, or Valdo, a rich merchant of Lyons, sells all his goods and gives to the poor. He, as well as his friends, seem to have had it in view practically to realise the perfection of primitive Christianity. He, accordingly, begins in like manner with the branches, and not the root. Nevertheless, his word is powerful, because of his appeal to Scripture, and shakes the Roman hierarchy to its very foundations.

In 1360, Wickliffe appears in England, and appeals from the pope to the word of G.o.d, but the real internal sore of the Church is, in his eyes, only one of the numerous symptoms of disease.

John Huss lifts his voice in Bohemia, a century before Luther lifts his in Saxony. He seems to penetrate farther than his predecessors into the essence of Christian truth. He asks Christ to give him grace to glory only in his cross, and in the inestimable weight of his sufferings, but his attention is directed less against the errors of the Roman Church, than the scandalous lives of its clergy. He was, however, if we may so speak, the John Baptist of the Reformation. The flames of his martyrdom kindled a fire in the Church, which threw immense light on the surrounding darkness, and the rays of which were not to be so easily extinguished.

John Huss did more; prophetic words came forth from the depth of his dungeon. He had a presentiment, that the true Reformation of the Church was at hand. So early as the period when chased from Prague, he had been forced to wander in the plains of Bohemia, where his steps were followed by an immense crowd of eager hearers, he had exclaimed, "The wicked have begun to lay perfidious nets for the Bohemian goose;[56] but if even the goose, which is only a domestic fowl, a peaceful bird, and which never takes a lofty flight into the air, has, however, broken their toils, other birds of loftier wing will break them with much greater force. Instead of a feeble goose, the truth will send eagles and falcons, with piercing eye."[57] The Reformers fulfilled this prediction.

[56] In Bohemian, Huss means "goose."

[57] Epist. J. Huss, Tempore Anathematis Scriptae.

And after the venerable priest had been summoned before the Council of Constance, after he had been thrown into prison, the chapel of Bethlehem, where he had proclaimed the Gospel and the future triumphs of Jesus Christ, occupied him more than his defence. One night, the holy martyr thought he saw, in the depth of his dungeon, the features of Jesus Christ, which he had caused to be painted on the walls of his study, effaced by the pope and the bishops. The dream distresses him, but next day he sees several painters employed in restoring the pictures in greater number and splendour. Their task finished, the painters, surrounded by a great mult.i.tude, exclaim, "Now, let popes and bishops come, they never shall efface them more." John Huss adds, "Many people in Bethlehem rejoiced, and I among them." "Think of your defence, rather than of dreams," said his faithful Friend, Chevalier de Chlum, to whom he had communicated the dream. "I am not a dreamer,"

replied Huss; "but this I hold for certain--the image of Christ will never be effaced. They wished to destroy it, but it will be painted anew in men's hearts by far abler preachers than I. The nation which loves Jesus Christ will rejoice; and I, awaking among the dead, and, so to speak, rising again from the tomb, will thrill with joy."[58]

[58] Huss. Ep. sub. Temp. Concuii Scriptae.

A century elapsed, and the torch of the Gospel, rekindled by the Reformers, did, in fact, illumine several nations which rejoiced in its light.

But in those ages, a word of life is heard not only among those whom Rome regards as its adversaries; Catholicity itself--let us say it for our comfort--contains in its bosom numerous witnesses to the truth.

The primitive edifice has been consumed; but a n.o.ble fire is slumbering under its ashes, and we see it from time to time throwing out brilliant sparks.

It is an error to suppose that, up to the Reformation, Christianity existed only under the Roman Catholic form, and that, at that period only, a part of that church a.s.sumed the form of Protestantism.

Among the doctors who preceded the sixteenth century, a great number, doubtless, inclined to the system which the Council of Trent proclaimed in 1562, but several also inclined to the doctrines professed at Augsburgh in 1530 by the Protestants; the majority, perhaps, vibrated between the two.

Anselm of Canterbury lays down the doctrines of the incarnation and expiation as of the essence of Christianity.[59] And in a treatise in which he teaches how to die, he says to the dying person, "Look only to the merits of Jesus Christ." St. Bernard with powerful voice proclaims the mystery of redemption. "If my fault comes from another,"

says he, "why should not my righteousness also be derived? Certainly, it is far better for me to have it given me, than to have it innate."[60] Several schoolmen, and after them chancellor Gerson, forcibly attack the errors and abuses of the Church.

[59] Cur Deus h.o.m.o?

[60] "Et sane mihi tutior donato quam innata." (De Erroribus Abelardi, cap. 6.) And it is certainly safer to me given than innate.

But, above all, let us think of the thousands of obscure individuals unknown to the world, who, however, possessed the true life of Christ.

A monk named Arnoldi, daily in his quiet cell utters this fervent exclamation, "O Jesus Christ my Lord! I believe that thou alone art my redemption and my righteousness."[61]

[61] "Credo quod tu, mi Domine Jesu Christe, solus es mea just.i.tia et redemptio."... (Leibnitz, Script. Brunsw. iii, 396.)

Christopher of Utenheim, a pious bishop of Basle, causes his name to be written on a picture painted on gla.s.s, and surrounds it with this inscription, that he may have it always under his eye, "The cross of Christ is my hope; I seek grace, and not works."[62]

[62] "Spes mea crux Christi; gratiam, non opera quaero."

Friar Martin, a poor Carthusian, wrote a touching confession, in which he says, "O most loving G.o.d! I know there is no other way in which I can be saved and satisfy thy justice, than by the merit, the spotless pa.s.sion, and death of thy well-beloved Son. Kind Jesus! All my salvation is in thy hands. Thou canst not turn the arms of thy love away from me, for they created, shaped, and ransomed me. In great mercy, and in an ineffable manner, thou hast engraved my name with an iron pen on thy side, thy hands, and thy feet," etc. Then the good Carthusian places his confession in a wooden box, and deposits the box in a hole which he had made in the wall of his cell.[63]

[63] "Sciens posse me aliter non salvari, et tibi satisfacere nisi per meritum," etc. (For these and similar quotations, see Flacius, Catal.

Test. Veritatis; Wolfii. Lect. Memorabiles; Miller's Reliquien, etc.)

The piety of Friar Martin would never have been known had not the box been found, 21st December, 1776, in taking down an old tenement which had formed part of the Carthusian Convent at Basle.

But this touching faith these holy men had only for themselves, and knew not how to communicate to others. Living in retreat, they might more or less say, as in the writing which Friar Martin put into his box, "Et si haec praedicta confiteri non possim lingua, confiteor tamen corde et scripto." "And these things aforesaid, if I cannot confess with the tongue, I, however, confess with the heart and in writing."

The word of truth was in the sanctuary of some pious souls, but, to use a Scripture expression, it had not "free course" in the world.

Still, if the doctrine of salvation was not always confessed aloud, there were some in the very bosom of the Church of Rome who, at least, feared not to declare openly against the abuses which dishonoured it.

Scarcely had the Councils of Constance and Basle, which condemned Huss and his followers, been held, than the n.o.ble series of witnesses against Rome, to which we have been pointing, again appears with greater l.u.s.tre. Men of a n.o.ble spirit, revolting at the abominations of the Papacy, rise up like the prophets under the Old Testament, like them sending forth a voice of thunder, and with a similar fate. Their blood reddens the scaffold, and their ashes are thrown to the wind.

Thomas Conecte, a Carmelite, appears in Flanders, and declares, "that abominations are done at Rome, that the Church has need of reformation, and that, in the service of G.o.d, one must not fear the excommunications of the pope."[64] Flanders listens with enthusiasm, but Rome burns him in 1432, and his contemporaries exclaim that G.o.d has exalted him to heaven.[65]

[64] Bertrand d'Argentre, Histoire de Bretaigne, Paris, 1618, p. 788.

[65] "Ille summo vivit Olympo." (Baptista Mantua.n.u.s, de Beata Vita, in fin.) He lives in the highest heaven.

Andre, Archbishop of Crayn, and a Cardinal, being at Rome as the amba.s.sador of the emperor, is amazed when he sees that the holiness of the pope, in which he had devoutly believed, is only a fable; and in his simplicity he addresses evangelical representations to s.e.xtus IV.

He is answered with mockery and persecution. Then (1482) he wishes a new Council to be a.s.sembled at Basle. "The whole Church," exclaims he, "is shaken by divisions, heresies, sins, vices, iniquities, errors, and innumerable evils, so much so, that it is on the eve of being swallowed up by the devouring abyss of condemnation.[66] This is my only reason for proposing a General Council for the Reformation of the Catholic faith, and the amendment of manners." The Archbishop of Basle was thrown into the prison of that town, and there died. Henry Inst.i.toris, the inquisitor, who first moved against him, used these remarkable words, "The whole world is crying out and demanding a council; but no human power can reform the Church by means of a Council. The Almighty will find another method, which is now unknown to us, though it is at the door; and, by this method the Church will be brought back to its primitive condition."[67] This remarkable prophecy, p.r.o.nounced by an inquisitor, at the very period of Luther's birth, is the finest apology for the Reformation.

[66] "A sorbente gurgite d.a.m.nationis, subtrahi." (J. H. Hottingeri, Hist. Eccl. Saecul. xv, p. 347.)

[67] "Alium modum Altissimus procurabit, n.o.bis quidem pro nunc incognitum, licet heu prae foribus existat, ut ad pristinum statum Ecclesia redeat." (J. H. Hottingeri, Hist. Eccl. Saecul. xv, p. 413.)

The Dominican, Jerome Savonarola, shortly after he had entered the order at Bologna in 1475, devotes himself to constant prayer, fasting, and macerations, and exclaims, "O thou who art good, in thy goodness teach me thy righteousness."[68] Translated to Florence in 1489, he preaches with effect; his voice is thrilling, his features animated, his action beautifully attractive. "The Church," exclaims he, "must be renewed." And he professes the grand principle which alone can restore life to it. "G.o.d," says he, "forgives man his sin, and justifies him in the way of mercy. For every justified person existing on the earth, there has been an act of compa.s.sion in heaven; for no man is saved by his works. None can glory in themselves; and if in the presence of G.o.d, the question were put to all the righteous, 'Have you been saved by your own strength?' they would all with one voice exclaim, 'Not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name be the glory.' Wherefore, O G.o.d, I seek thy mercy, and I bring thee not my own righteousness: the moment thou justifiest me by grace, thy righteousness belongs to me; for grace is the righteousness of G.o.d. So long, O man, as thou believest not, thou art, because of sin, deprived of grace. O G.o.d, save me by thy righteousness, that is, by thy Son, who alone was found righteous among men."[69] Thus the great and holy doctrine of justification by faith gladdens the heart of Savonarola. In vain do the prelates of the Church oppose him;[70] he knew that the oracles of G.o.d are superior to the visible church, and that he must preach them with her, without her, or in spite of her.--"Fly far from Babylon," exclaims he. It is Rome he thus designates. Rome soon answers him in her own way. In 1497 the infamous Alexander launches a brief at him, and in 1498 torture and f.a.ggot do their work on the Reformer.

[68] "Bonus es tu, et in bonitate tua doce me justificationes tuas."

(Batesius, Vitae Selectorum Virorum. Lond. 1681, p. 112.)

[69] Meditationes in Psalmos; Prediche sopra il Salmo. Quam bonus Israel, etc. Sermones supra Archam Noe, etc.

[70] "Inter omnes vero persecutores, potissimum Ecclesiae praesides."

But among all persecutors, chiefly the prelates of the Church.

(Batesius, p. 118.)

A Franciscan, named John Vitraire, of Tournay, whose monastic spirit seems not of a very elevated description, nevertheless, declaims forcibly against the corruption of the Church. "It were better for a man," says he,[71] "to cut his child's throat than put it into a religion not reformed. If your curate, or any other priest, keep women in his house, you ought to go and drag the women by force, or in any other way, pell-mell, out of the house. There are some persons who say prayers to the Virgin Mary, in order that, at the hour of death, they may see the Virgin Mary. Thou shalt see the devil, and not the Virgin Mary." The monk was ordered to retract, and he did so in 1498.

[71] D'Argentre, Collectio Judiciorum de Novis Erroribus, II, p. 340.

John Laillier, a Doctor of Sorbonne, declares, in 1484, against the tyrannical domination of the hierarchy. "All ecclesiastics," says he, "have received equal power from Christ. The Roman Church is not the head of other churches. You ought to keep the commandments of G.o.d and the Apostles; and, in regard to the command of all the bishops and other lords of the Church, care no more for it than you would for a straw; they have destroyed the Church by their tricks.[72] The priests of the Eastern Church sin not in marrying; and, believe me, neither shall we in the Western Church if we marry. Since St. Sylvester the Church of Rome has been, not a church of Christ, but a church of State and money. We are no more bound to believe the legends of the saints than the Chronicles of France."

[72] Ibidem.

John of Wessalia, a doctor of theology at Erfurt, a man of great spirit and intellect, attacks the errors on which the hierarchy rests, and proclaims the holy Scriptures to be the only source of faith. "It is not religion" (that is, the monastic state) "that saves us," says he to some monks, "but the grace of G.o.d. G.o.d has from all eternity kept a book in which he has entered all his elect. Whosoever is not entered there will not, through eternity; and whosoever is, will never see his name erased. It is solely by the grace of G.o.d that the elect are saved.

He whom G.o.d is pleased to save, by giving him grace, will be saved, though all the priests in the world were to condemn and excommunicate him. And he whom G.o.d sees meet to condemn, though these should all wish to save him, will be made to feel his condemnation.[73] How audacious in the successors of the apostles to order, not what Christ has prescribed in his holy books, but what they themselves devised, when carried away, as they now are, by a thirst for money, or a rage for power. I despise the pope, the Church, and the Councils, and I extol Jesus Christ." Wessalia, who had gradually arrived at those convictions, boldly announces them from the pulpit, and enters into communication with deputies from the Hussites. Feeble, bent with age, and wasted by disease, the courageous old man, with tottering step, appears before the Inquisition, and, in 1482, dies in its dungeons.

[73] "Et quem Deus vult d.a.m.nare, Si omnes vellent hunc salvare, Adhuc iste d.a.m.naretur."

Who is condemned by G.o.d's decree, a.s.suredly condemned shall be, Whoe'er they be would save him.